Ducks

The Ducks will bring one of the strongest links to their 2007 Stanley Cup to the bench this season, naming distinguished defenseman Scott Niedermayer as an assistant coach to Bruce Boudreau on Friday. Niedermayer, 39, has been retired since 2010 and has served as a hockey operations consultant to the team. “Try to find answers for guys, give advice, little things I see when I'm watching a game,” Niedermayer said of his expected contributions. “We have some veteran defensemen I might not be quite as involved with.

When: 4:30 PDT. Where: Verizon Center. On the air: TV: Versus; Radio: 830. Records: Ducks 5-5-1; Capitals 7-2-0. Update: The Ducks made a small roster move Monday, sending down enforcer J.F. Jacques to their minor league team in Syracuse, N.Y., and bringing up center Nick Bonino. Rookie forward Devante Smith-Pelly practiced with the Ducks and made the trip with them to Washington. If he plays in his 10th game, which would be against the Capitals, it would then trigger the first year of his three-year entry-level deal.

The Ducks brought back free agent Dustin Penner with a one-year contract Tuesday. The left wing has won a Stanley Cup both with Anaheim, where he began his NHL career in 2005, and with his most recent team, the Kings. Penner, 30, had two goals and 12 assists for the Kings last season and scored just 11 regular-season goals total in his three seasons with the team after averaging 24-plus in five seasons before that with Edmonton and the Ducks combined. He scored three goals for the Kings in the playoffs this year, and has 35 points (22 assists)

Sami Vatanen's value to the Ducks is seen in the fact he's scored a goal in two of the past four games he's played, contributing more than 21 minutes of ice time a week ago. With the return of defenseman Luca Sbisa from a torn right hand tendon coming, however, the younger Vatanen was moved down to minor-league Norfolk Wednesday morning before the Ducks (37-9-5) play the Winnipeg Jets (22-23-5) at Honda Center at 7 p.m. “That's the only move that could be made,” Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said.

The Ducks for the second time this season had to summon an emergency backup goaltender to their bench after Jonas Hiller was ruled out of Friday night's game at the Honda Center versus the Dallas Stars. The replacement, Rob Laurie of Corona, has a distant connection to the arena's history, given that he was the starting goaltender for the inline hockey Anaheim Bullfrogs on July 2, 1993, in the first professional sporting event at the arena. Laurie, 42, who proceeded to lead the Bullfrogs to the International League championship in 1993 while earning playoff most-valuable-player recognition, was expected to have a very short stint as the Ducks' backup goalie to Friday night starter Viktor Fasth.

The questions about the Ducks' slow starts continue after they gave up two goals in the first 2:22 of a 4-3 victory over the Predators on Thursday at Nashville. But in their five-game winning streak, it's also worth noting they've outscored teams 20-7 after the first period. “It's all five guys being much tighter,” defenseman Ben Lovejoy said. “One of the best parts of our team is our forechecking and our offensive zone play. We have four lines that can grind in the offensive zone and are difficult to play against.